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- Herausgeber: Olympia Press
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
A Brief History of Chinese Fiction grew out of the lecture notes Lu Hsun used when teaching a course on Chinese fiction at Peking University between 1920 and 1924. In December 1923 a first volume was printed and in June 1924 a second volume. In September 1925 these were reprinted as one book. In 1930 the author made certain changes, but all subsequent editions have remained the same.
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A Brief History of Chinese Fiction
Lu Hsun
This page copyright © 2010 Silk Pagoda.
Translated by YANG HSIEN-YI and GLADYS YANG
Publisher's Note
A Brief History of Chinese Fiction grew out of the lecture notes Lu Hsun used when teaching a course on Chinese fiction at Peking University between 1920 and 1924. In December 1923 a first volume was printed and in June 1924 a second volume. In September 1925 these were reprinted as one book. In 1930 the author made certain changes, but all subsequent editions have remained the same.
“The Historical Development of Chinese Fiction” in the Appendix served as notes for a series of lectures Lu Hsun gave at a Xian summer school in July 1924. The preface to the Japanese edition appeared first in the edition published in 1955 by the Sairosha Press, Tokyo, Japan.
This translation has been made from the Complete Works of Lu Hsun published by the People's Literature Publishing House: A Brief History of Chinese Fiction can be found in Volume 9, while the preface to the Japanese edition comes from the second series of Essays of Chieh-chieh-ting in Volume 6.
Preface to the New Edition
NEARLY ten years have passed since I began to lecture the history of Chinese fiction, and this brief outline was first printed seven years ago. Since then much research has been done in this field and new discoveries have cleared up certain points which were obscure. For example, the discovery by Professor Shionoya Akushi of the mutilated Yuan dynasty edition of Illustrated Vernacular Tales and Feng Meng-lung's three collections of popular stories, as well as his researches on these, are of major significance in the history of Chinese fiction; and the contention of some Chinese scholars that there should be separate histories for the fiction of different periods is a sound one. All this means that my brief outline should now be outdated; but since no new histories have yet been written, there are still readers for these notes. For a new edition, this book should by rights be revised, but since I started moving from place to place I have given up literary studies, and have nothing but a vague recollection of what I wrote in the past. So I simply made a few changes in Chapters 14, 15 and 21, keeping the other chapters unchanged as I have no new theories regarding them. Since great vessels take years to produce, this earthenware pot of mine still serves some purpose; but though this fact has prolonged the life of my book, I am disheartened by this dearth of new writing. In a melancholy mood I have gone through these proofs, hoping that better scholars will soon produce a more authoritative book.
Lu Hsun
Night of November 25, 1930
Preface
THERE has never been a history of Chinese fiction, if we except the accounts in the histories of Chinese literature written by foreigners. Recently certain summaries have appeared in Chinese works too, but the space devoted to fiction is usually less than one-tenth of the whole. Hence we still lack a detailed account of the development of Chinese fiction.
Though this book is concerned entirely with fiction, it is nothing but a rough outline. I wrote it because three years ago, happening to give some lectures on this subject and fearing that my defects as a speaker might make it hard for my hearers to understand, I jotted down this outline and had it duplicated for my students. Then, in order not to give the copyist too much trouble, I compressed it by using the classical language, omitting certain examples but keeping the main outline which I have been using ever since.
These notes are finally being printed because they have been duplicated so many times and given those in charge so much trouble that printing appears to be more economical.
During the preparation of this copy for the press, four or five friends have lent me reference books or helped me with proof-reading; indeed, for the last three years they have proved consistently helpful. I would like to thank them here.
Lu Hsun
Night of October 7, 1923, Peking
1. The Historians' Accounts and Evaluations of Fiction
HSIAO-SHUO, the name for fiction, was first used by Chuang Tzu who spoke of “winning honour and renown by means of hsiao-shuo.” All he meant by this expression, as a matter of fact, was chit-chat of no great consequence. So here the term has a different connotation from that acquired later. Huan Tan said: “The writers of hsiao-shuo string together odd sayings and parables to make short tales which contain matters of use for daily life.” This seems closer to our understanding of fiction. But Yao's questioning of Confucius in Chuang Tzu and the account in Huai Nan Tzu of how the giant Kung Kung made the earth quake were considered as “worthless hsiao-shuo.” In these cases the term meant legends and fables having no basis in historical fact and counter to the Confucian tradition. Later there were many theories which we need not go into here; but we may as well see what the historians had to say about hsiao-shuo, since literary criticism has always been one function of Chinese historians.
In the Chin dynasty books were burned in order to keep the people ignorant. When the Han dynasty was established, records were collected and copyists hired by the state, while the emperors Cheng Ti and Ai Ti ordered Liu Hsiang and his son Liu Hsin to edit the books in the imperial library; and Liu Hsin, having made a summary, presented his Seven Summaries. This work is lost now, but Pan Ku's Han Dynasty History preserved its main contents in the section on literature. The third part of this gives a brief account of the works of non-Confucian philosophers up to that time and ten schools are recorded, of which Pan Ku says: “Nine are worth reading,” but works of hsiao-shuo were excluded; however he appended the names of these fifteen works in the end,
The Sayings of Yi Yin in twenty-seven chapters
The Sayings of Yu Tzu in nineteen chapters
Records of Chou in seventy-six chapters
Ching Shih Tzu in fifty-seven chapters
Shih Kuang in six chapters
Wu Cheng Tzu in eleven chapters
Sung Tzu in eighteen chapters
Tien Yi in three chapters
The Sayings of the Yellow Emperor in forty chapters
Notes on the Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth in eighteen chapters
Adviser Jao's Writings in twenty-five chapters
Adviser An Cheng's Writings on the Art of Immortality
Shou's Account of the Chou Dynasty in seven chapters
Yu Chu's Chou Dynasty Tales in 943 chapters
Miscellaneous Writings in 139 chapters
In all, this totals 1,380 chapters.
The hsiao-shuo writers succeeded those officers of the Chou dynasty whose task it was to collect the gossip of the streets. Confucius said: “Even by-ways are worth exploring. But if we go too far we may be bogged down.” Gentlemen do not undertake this themselves, but neither do they dismiss such talk altogether. They have the sayings of the common people collected and kept, as some of them may prove useful. This was at least the opinion of country rustics.
By the Liang dynasty (505-556) Ching Shih Tzu alone of these fifteen works was left, and this book was lost too by the Sui dynasty. Judging by Pan Ku's comments, however, most of these titles were later works attributed to some ancient men, or anecdotes about ancient history. The first category bore some resemblance to early philosophic writings except that they were inferior, while the second resembled historical records, only they were less reliable.
During the first half of the seventh century the official Sui Dynasty History was compiled by Changsun Wu-chi and other Tang dynasty scholars. The bibliographical section was written by Wei Cheng, who based it on the record by Hsun Hsu of the Tsin dynasty, dividing books into four categories:
Confucian classics
Historical records
Philosophical writings
Miscellaneous works
Hsiao-shuo are included under philosophical writings. All the works in this section except the Story of Prince Tan of Yen date from the Tsin dynasty and include records of sayings as well as descriptions of various arts and games; while the definition of hsiao-shuo is based on that in the Han Dynasty History:
Hsiao-shuo were the talk of the streets. Thus the Tso Chuan quotes chair-bearers' chants while the Book of Songs praises the ruler who consulted rustics. In days of old when a sage was on the throne, the official historians wrote records, blind minstrels made songs, artisans recited admonitions, ministers gave advice, gentlemen discoursed and the common people gossiped. Clappers sounded in early spring as a search was made for folk songs, while officers on tours of inspection understood local customs from the popular songs; and if mistakes had been made these were rectified. All the talk of the streets and highways was recorded. Officers at court took charge of local records and prohibitions, while the officers in charge of civil affairs reported local sayings and customs. Thus Confucius said: “Even by-ways are worth exploring. But if we go too far we may be bogged down.”
In the first half of the tenth century, Liu Hsu and others drew up the bibliographical section of the Tang Dynasty History based on the Record of Books Ancient and Modern by Wu Ching and others, shortening it by cutting out the preface and notes. So we find no comments on books in the official Tang history. The hsiao-shuo listed here differ little from those enumerated in the Sui Dynasty History; but works no longer extant are omitted, while Chang Hua's Records of Strange Things, formerly classified as miscellaneous writings, is added.
In the middle of the eleventh century, Tseng Kung-liang and other Sung dynasty scholars were ordered to edit the New Tang Dynasty History, and Ouyang Hsiu wrote the bibliographical section. His list of hsiao-shuo includes many additional works from the third to the sixth century: fifteen accounts of ghosts and fairies in 115 books from Chang Hua's Tales of Marvels and Tai Tso's Discerning the Marvels down to Wu Chun's More Tales of Chi Hsieh; as well as nine works in seventy books on divine retribution from Wang Yen-hsiu's Tales of Divine Retribution to Hou Pai's Stories Exemplifying Marvels. These works had previously been included in the section on historical works together with the biographies of local elders, hermits, filial sons, loyal officers and famous women. But from this time onwards these accounts of the supernatural were considered as fiction and ceased to be classed as history. Other works of the Tang dynasty added to the list of hsiao-shuo were moral admonitions like Li Shu's Advice to My Son, compendiums of knowledge like Liu Hsiao-sun's Origin of Things, Li Fu's Corrections of Mistakes or Lu Yu's Book of Tea. Thus this category became more diversified. When the Sung Dynasty History was compiled in the Yuan dynasty the same tradition was followed, though the connotation of hsiao-shuo became even more all-embracing.
Hu Ying-lin of the Ming dynasty, judging the hsiao-shuo genre too indefinite, subdivided hsiao-shuo as follows:
Records of marvels
Prose romances
Anecdotes
Miscellaneous notes
Researches
Moral admonitions
During the reign of Chien Lung (1736-1795) of the Ching dynasty, when a general survey was made of the catalogue of books in the Imperial Manuscript Library under the direction of Chi Yun, hsiao-shuo were divided into three main groups. But Chi Yun's views were based on earlier records:
... When we investigate the different types of hsiao-shuo, we find three groups: miscellaneous records, records of marvels, and anecdotes. Since the Tang and Sung dynasties there has been a great deal of literature of this sort. Though much of it is idle gossip or foolish superstition, intermingled with this are quite a number of useful pieces of knowledge, research and moral teaching. Pan Ku tells us that the hsiao-shuo writers were successors of the Chou dynasty officers who collected information, and a comment in the Han Dynasty History says that the task of these officers was to help the ruler to understand country ways and morals. Evidently this was the ancient system for assembling miscellaneous information; hence these works should not be thrust aside as useless or spurious. We have selected only the better examples which serve to broaden knowledge, rejecting vulgar and extravagant writings which simply confuse people.
He goes on to list three categories of hsiao-shuo:
Miscellaneous writings
The Western Capital Miscellany in six books
New Anecdotes of Social Talk in three books, etc....
Records of Marvels
The Book of Mountains and Seas in eighteen books
The Travels of King Mu in six books<
The Book of Supernatural Things in one book
Records of Spirits in twenty books
More Tales of Chi Hsieh in one book, etc....
Anecdotes
Records of Strange Things in ten books
Accounts of Marvels in two books
Yuyang Miscellany in twenty books
Sequel to the Yuyang Miscellany in ten books, etc....
If we compare this with Hu Ying-lin's categories, we can see that there were actually two main groups: miscellaneous anecdotes and tales of marvels; but here those tales which are more complete are classified as records of marvels, the briefer and more miscellaneous are described as anecdotes. Prose romances are not included, neither are miscellaneous sayings, short studies and moral admonitions. From this time on, the hsiao-shuo genre seems to be more clearly defined. Since this was the first time works like The Book of Mountains and Seas and The Travels of King Mu had been classed as hsiao-shuo, the following explanation was given: “Works like The Travels of King Mu were formerly classified as biographies.... But in fact those tales are sheer fantasy, not to be compared with the Lost Records of Chou.... If we count them as authentic history, the concept of history becomes confused and the rules of history are broken. We have therefore put them down as hsiao-shuo, which seems more logical. We hope readers will not condemn us for altering time-honoured categories in this way.” Since then, historical legends have been classed under hsiao-shuo as tales of marvels, and the section on history contains no more legendary accounts.
The Sung dynasty story-tellers' scripts and the Yuan and Ming novels have always been popular with the common people and very numerous, but they were never listed in official histories. Only Wang Chi and Kao Ju of the Ming dynasty in their bibliographies, Hsu Wen Hsien Tung Kao (Sequel to Studies in Ancient Bibliographies) and Pai Chuan Shu Chih (Hundred Rivers Bibliographical Notes), mention The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Shui Hu Chuan. Chien Tseng at the beginning of the Ching dynasty in his bibliography, Yeh Shih Yuan Shu Mu, mentions three popular romances including the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and sixteen Sung dynasty tales including Mother Lamp-Wick. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Shui Hu Chuan were considered as proper writings because they were printed by the censorate of the Ming government in the sixteenth century, and that was why they were included in Ming bibliographies; but subsequently they were omitted again. And Chien Tseng included those novels in his list simply because he was a collector who valued old editions of these works — not because he appreciated their true value and deliberately broke the old conventions. The historians' point of view has remained unchanged from the Han dynasty to the present day; and as bibliography is after all a branch of historical science, we cannot expect bibliographers to break their own rules.
2. Myths and Legends
TALES of marvels were first recorded according to Chuang Tzu by Chi Hsieh and according to Lieh Tzu by Yi Chien, but these are unsubstantiated legends. Though the Han Dynasty History attributes their origin to the Chou dynasty officers who collected folk legends, these men were collectors only, not authors. Tales which were “the talk of the streets” arose among the people and were not created by any single writer. In China, just as elsewhere, they must have sprung out of myths and legends.
When primitive men observed natural phenomena and changes which could not be accomplished by any human power, they made up stories to explain them, and these explanations became myths. Myths usually centred round a group of gods: men described these gods and their feats and came to worship them, singing hymns in praise of their divine power and making offerings in their shrines. And so, as time went by, culture developed. For myths were not only the beginning of religion and art but the fountain-head of literature. Though mythology gave birth to literature, poets were its greatest enemies; for when they made songs or stories they naturally touched things up till very little of the original myth was left. In fact, while it was the poets who preserved and developed myths, they were also the ones to change and weaken them too. For example, our existing myth about the creation shows a rather advanced imagination at work and can hardly be the invention of primitive man.
Heaven and earth were commingled like an egg in the midst of which Pan Ku was born and he lived for eighteen thousand years. Then heaven and earth split asunder: the pure and bright element became heaven, the impure and dark element earth, while Pan Ku within underwent nine transformations in one day, turning into a god in heaven and a sage on earth. Heaven grew ten feet higher every day, earth grew ten feet thicker every day, and Pan Ku grew ten feet taller every day. So it went for eighteen thousand years, till heaven was exceedingly high, earth exceedingly thick, and Pan Ku exceedingly tall. Then came the three divine emperors.
(From Hsu Cheng's Ancient Chronology, now lost)
Heaven and earth are matter too, but there were deficiencies. So in ancient times Nu-kua melted coloured stones to fill out these deficiencies and cut off the feet of a giant turtle to prop up the four extremities of the earth. Later Kung Kung contended against Chuan-hsu for the mastery and in his rage crashed into Mount Puchou, breaking the pillars of heaven and earth's foundations. Then heaven tilted down on the northwest, and the sun, moon and stars all go that way. The earth has a gap in the southeast, and thither all the streams and rivers flow.
(Lieh Tzu)
As myths developed, the central figures became increasingly human till the myths turned into legends. The chief figures of legends had semi-divine attributes or were ancient heroes with outstanding intelligence and skill, braver than all ordinary men. They received special gifts from Heaven or were aided by the gods. Two examples out of many are the ancestor of the Shangs born to Chien Ti after she ate a swallow's egg, and the founder of the Han dynasty whose mother was possessed by a dragon.
In the time of King Yao ten suns appeared in the sky, scorching the crops and killing trees and plants. Then there was a famine in the land, and centaurs, wild boars, huge serpents and other monsters began to prey upon the people. Yao ordered Yi... to shoot down the ten suns and kill the centaurs.... Then all the people rejoiced and made Yao their sovereign.
(Huai Nan Tzu)
Yi had an elixir given him by the Queen Mother of the West. Huan Ngo stole it and went up to the moon. (A note by Kao Yu says: “Huan Ngo was Yi's wife. Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for an elixir, but before he could take it his wife stole it and became immortal, flying to the moon to be the fairy of the moon.”)
(Huai Nan Tzu)
In ancient times Yao killed Kun at Feather Mountain. Kun's spirit changed into a yellow dragon and entered Feather Lake.
(Tso Chuan)
Shun's father, ordering him to climb up and repair the roof of the granary, set fire to it below. But Shun came down safe and sound, carrying two straw hats. Then his father ordered him to dig a well, which he did. But he made an opening at the bottom by which he escaped again.
(Ssuma Chien's Historical Records)
No collections of myths and legends have yet been made in China, but these tales can be found scattered in ancient books, and there are many in The Book of Mountains and Seas. Our existing edition, in eighteen books, records strange phenomena and deities of the mountains and rivers, as well as the sacrifices to them. It is wrong to attribute the authorship to Yu and Yi, equally wrong to claim that the work was written as a commentary for the Chu poems. The use of rice in shamanist sacrifices is mentioned, and probably this work was meant for ancient shamans; but later legends were added in the Chin and Han dynasties. The best known and most quoted of all the myths in it are those about Mount Kunlun and the Queen Mother of the West.
Mount Kunlun is the lower capital of the Heavenly Emperor. It is guarded by Lu Wu, a deity having a tiger's body, nine tails, a human face and tiger's claws. He has sway over the nine regions of heaven and paradise.
(“The Western Mountains")
In Jade Mountain lives the Queen Mother of the West. This deity bears resemblance to a mortal but has a leopard's tail, tiger's teeth, a shrill voice and matted hair, on which she wears a tiara. She controls the furies and avenging spirits of heaven.
(“The Western Mountains")
Kunlun is eight hundred li square, hundreds of thousands of feet high. On its summit grows a tree forty feet in height which five men can barely span. There are nine wells with jade balustrades and nine gates guarded by the beast Kai Ming. Here all the deities live, on an eight-sided cliff by the Red Stream which Yi alone can ascend.
(“The Western Regions Within the Seas")
The Queen Mother of the West wears a tiara and has a stool. In the south are three blue birds which fetch food for her from north of Kunlun.
(“The Northern Regions Within the Seas")
In the Great Wilderness is a mountain called Feng-chu Jade Gate, where the sun and moon go down. This is a holy mountain. Ten witches go up and down there, and there grow all manner of herbs.
(“The Western Regions of the Great Wilderness")
South of the Western Sea by the Shifting Sands, behind the Red Stream and before the Black Stream, is a great mountain called Kunlun. Here lives a deity with a human face, tiger's form and white tail. Beneath him is the water on which nothing floats, beyond is the flaming mountain where all things are burned. A creature wearing a tiara, with tiger's teeth and leopard's tail, inhabits a cavern there. This is the Queen Mother of the West. Here is great abundance of all things.
(The Western Regions of the Great Wilderness")
In A.D. 279, during the Tsin dynasty, Pu Chun of the principality of Chi opened the tomb of King Hsiang of Wei and found records written on bamboo strips: The Travels of King Mu in five chapters and nineteen chapters of other books. Today The Travels of King Mu exists in six books; the first five describe how King Mu of Chou went to the west on a chariot drawn by eight fine horses, while the last deals with the death and funeral of Lady Sheng, but this was originally a separate work. Though the Queen Mother of the West is mentioned here too, she does not have such a monstrous appearance but is more like a human sovereign.
On chia-tzu day the king called on the Queen Mother of the West, presenting her with white and black jade, a hundred lengths of coloured silk and three hundred of white. The Queen Mother bowed and accepted these gifts. On yi-chou day the king invited her to a feast at Jade Pool, and the Queen Mother sang this song for him:
The white clouds in the sky float out from the mountains;
The way is long, hills and rivers lie between us;
If you do not die, you may come back again.
The king made reply:
I must return to my eastern realm to govern the men of Hsia.
When all our people are at peace I shall look to see you again.
Three years from now I shall come back to your country.
Then the king rode to Yen Mountain, inscribed a record on the rocks there and planted ash trees, naming the place Queen Mother Mount.
(Book 3)
There was a tiger in the bushes, and the king was about to pass by. A guard named Kao Pen-jung asked permission to catch the tiger alive, and having done this presented it to the king. The king ordered a cage to be made and kept it in the east forest. That place was named Tiger's Cage. The king gave Kao ten teams of horses and a grand sacrifice, and Kao bowed his thanks.
(Book 5)
According to Ying Shao of the Han dynasty, the Records of Chou was the base of Yu Chu's tales. Only four books in the existing text of the Lost Records of Chou abound in descriptive detail like a work of fiction. Among the writings on bamboo strips discovered in the Tsin dynasty were eleven chapters of miscellaneous works on divination, dreams and supernatural happenings; but all these have been lost. A few quotations only have been preserved in the Sung dynasty Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia. A Tsin dynasty stone inscription in Chi County about the Patriarch Lu Wang is based on the Records of Chou and speaks of dreams and divination in the manner of fiction. Possibly Yu Chu's tales were based on similar writings. Lacking proof, however, we cannot say for certain.
When Duke Ching of Chi set out to conquer the state of Sung and reached Chuling, he saw in a dream a short man who greeted him.
Yen Tzu asked him: “What was he like, sir?”
The duke said: “He was very short, with a longer body than his legs. He spoke angrily and often lowered his head.”
Yen Tzu said: “That must have been Yi Yin. He was broad and short, with a longer trunk than his legs. He was ruddy and bearded and often lowered his head, talking in gruff tones.”
The duke said: “That's the man.”
Yen Tzu said: “He is angry on account of your expedition. You had better not go on.”
So the duke gave up his campaign.
(Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia, Book 378)
King Wen dreamed that he saw the Heavenly Emperor in dark robes standing at Linghu Ford.
The god said: “I give you Wang.”
King Wen bowed and so did Lu Wang, standing behind him, who was later styled the Patriarch. The same night that King Wen had this dream, Lu Wang dreamed it also. Some time later King Wen met Lu Wang and asked him: “Is your name Wang?”
He answered: “Yes, it is.”
King Wen said: “Your face looks familiar.”
Lu Wang repeated to him all that had passed, giving him the exact year, month and day, and explaining: “That is how Your Majesty saw me.”
King Wen exclaimed: “True, true!”
He returned to his palace with Lu Wang and made him his minister.
(From the Tsin dynasty inscription on the Patriarch Lu Wang)
There were also historical works which contained legends, such as the Story of Prince Tan of Yen written before the Han dynasty, the History of the Kings of Shu by Yang Hsiung of the Han dynasty, Annals of Wu and Yueh by Chao Yeh and Lost Records of Yueh by Yuan Kang and Wu Ping of the end of the Han dynasty. The poems of Chu Yuan also abound in myths and legends, especially “The Riddles.” The poet asks: What virtue has the moon that it dies and is born again? Why is there a toad in the moon? What were the labours of Kun? What did Yu accomplish? Why did the giant grow angry and make the earth fall in the southeast? Where are the foundations of the Hanging Gardens of Kunlun? How high is the ninefold city? Where is the ling fish? Where is the chi-tui bird? Why did Yi shoot down the suns? Where do birds discard their feathers?... The Han dynasty commentator Wang Yi says: “After Chu Yuan was sent into exile, wandering through hills and marshlands he saw temples built to past kings and ministers where the walls had paintings of deities and spirits of hills and streams, depicting strange tales of ancient sages and monsters... so he wrote this poem on the wall, putting riddles to Heaven.” Evidently such legends were not only commonly told but used as subjects for the decoration of temples. This tradition was handed down to the Han dynasty. Even today in Han tombs we can see stone bas-reliefs representing deities, monsters, sages and famous figures. After the bamboo writings were discovered in the Tsin dynasty, Kuo Pu wrote a commentary for The Travels of King Mu as well as for The Book of Mountains and Seas and appended short summaries. Chiang Kuan after him did the same. So it seems that after the Tsin dynasty these ancient legends were still popular. But China has never had monumental works putting all these myths and legends together, as in the Greek epics. In our literature myths and legends serve merely as allusions and embellishments in poetry or prose. They left their mark, too, on later fiction.
It seems likely that Chinese myths remained separate fragments for the following reasons: First, the early dwellers in the Yellow River Valley were not an imaginative people; and since their life was hard and they devoted most of their energy to practical matters without indulging in flights of fancy, they did not combine all the old legends into one great epic. Secondly, Confucius appeared with his teaching about the way to cultivate morality, regulate the family, rule the state and bring peace to the world. Since he disapproved of talk of the supernatural, the old myths were not quoted by Confucian scholars, and instead of undergoing further development many of them were lost.
But a more fundamental reason was probably the absence of a strict division between gods and ghosts. In the earliest times though there was apparently some line of demarcation between the deities of heaven and earth and the ghosts of dead men, yet ghosts could become deities too. Since men and gods intermingled in this manner, the early religion was never fully developed, and as more new legends appeared the old ones died out, and the new legends lacked lustre. Here are two examples of the way in which new gods were constantly created, and three showing that though the old gods might change their form and names there was no real development of myths and legends.
Chiang Tzu-wen, a citizen of Kuangling, was fond of drink and women, a thorough profligate. He boasted that because his bones were dark he would become a god after his death. At the end of the Han dynasty, when he was tribune of Moling, he chased a brigand to Mount Chung. When Chiang was about to tie him up, the brigand struck him on the temple and killed him. During the reign of Sun Chuan of Wu, some of Chiang's former officers saw him on the road.... Chiang's spirit said: “I shall be the tutelary god here to bring happiness to the people. Tell them to build a shrine for me if they want to avert serious trouble.” That summer there was a great outbreak of plague and moved by fear many worshipped him in secret.
(Records of Spirits)
There is a goddess called Tzu Ku. Tradition has it that she was once a concubine but she was so ill-treated by the wife, who made her do all the dirtiest work, that on the fifteenth of the first month she killed herself. So on this day every year effigies are made of her, and at night folk stand by the privy or pigsty to welcome her spirit.... When the one holding the effigy finds it grow heavier, that means her spirit has come. Then the man becomes possessed. They set out wine and fruit as sacrifice, while he shows approval and moves incessantly, giving portents concerning the raising of silkworms and mulberry crops. If he dances wildly it means success; if he lies down to sleep it means failure.
(The Garden of Marvels)
From the ocean rises Mount Tushuo and upon it grows a huge peach tree.... On its northeast side is the Gate of Spirits where a myriad ghosts pass to and fro. Above are two deities, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, who rule over the ghosts, catching evil spirits with a straw rope and feeding them to tigers. This is why the Yellow Emperor instituted rites to exorcize spirits in due season: men set up a huge peach-wood image, on the doors paint Shen Tu, Yu Lei and the tiger, and hang up straw ropes to guard against evil spirits.
(From a passage now lost in The Book of Mountains and Seas)
Southeast is Mount Taotu... At its foot are two deities, the one on the left called Lung, the one on the right called Yu, and both hold straw ropes to catch evil spirits which they will kill. Nowadays at New Year men make two figures in peach wood to stand by the door... as images of these deities.
(The Heart of Mysteries)
The door-gods were two Tang dynasty generals: Chin Shu-pao and Hu Ching-teh. According to the records, when Emperor Tai Tsung was ill, ghosts started screeching outside his chamber and throwing bricks and tiles.... The emperor in alarm told his ministers.
Then Chin Shu-pao stepped forward and said: “I have killed men like chopping melons, piling up corpses like anthills: what have I to fear from ghosts? Let me and Hu Ching-teh stand guard outside your door in battle dress.”
The emperor consented. That night there was no further alarm and the emperor was pleased to have portraits painted of both men... to hang on both sides of his palace gate. Then the ghosts ceased to disturb him. This tradition was carried forward into later years, and so these men became door-gods.
(The Compendium of Deities of the Three Religions)
3. Works of Fiction Mentioned in the “Han Dynasty History”
THE bibliographical section of the Han Dynasty History describes the writers of hsiao-shuo as successors of the Chou dynasty pai officers. Thus Ju Chun comments: “Pai meant fine rice. This alluded to the trivial talk or gossip of the street. The ancient kings who wanted to know local customs appointed these officers to report on them.” Since all the hsiao-shuo mentioned in the Han Dynasty History are lost we cannot make a study of them, but judging by their titles they can hardly have been collected from the people like the folk-songs in the Book of Songs. Seven of these works are attributed to famous men of early times, namely The Sayings of Yi Yin, The Sayings of Yu Tzu, Shih Kuang, Wu Cheng Tzu, Sung Tzu, Tien Yi and The Sayings of the Yellow Emperor. Two were ancient records, Records of Chou and Ching Shih Tzu. We do not know the date of these; but the following four were written in the Han dynasty: Notes on the Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, Adviser Jao's Writings, Shou's Account of the Chou Dynasty and Yu Chu's Chou Dynasty Tales. Though Adviser An Cheng's Writings on the Art of Immortality and Miscellaneous Writings are not dated, judging by their position in the list they probably date from the Han dynasty also.
Taoist philosophical works mentioned in the Han Dynasty History include The Sayings of Yi Yin in fifty-one chapters, which is no longer extant. The Sayings of Yi Yin in twenty-seven chapters classified as hsiao-shuo is also lost. In a note to the “Life of Ssuma Hsiang-ju” in Ssuma Chien's Historical Records we find this quotation from Yi Yin's sayings: “East of Chi Mountain where the blue birds live are oranges that ripen in the summer.” This must be the only fragment left. The Works of Lu Pu-wei records that Yi Yin was introduced to King Tang after serving him delicious food; the quotation just given is also cited and there is elegant descriptive detail but actually very little content. That episode was probably also based on this lost work. Since Mencius in one discussion also refers to the legend that Yi Yin was introduced to King Tang as a cook, The Sayings of Yi Yin was most likely written in the Warring States Period.
Another Taoist work mentioned in the Han Dynasty History is Yu Tzu in twenty-one chapters, of which one chapter only is left. Some critics have deduced from its lack of content that it was not the work of a Taoist philosopher; and fragments quoted by a Tang dynasty scholar are quite different from the existing text; so the deduction was probably correct:
King Wu led his men and chariots against the Shangs. The king of Shang had a million picked troops in formation outside the city from Huangniao to Chihfu. They came on as fast as the wind with a noise like thunder, and King Wu's men were afraid. Then King Wu ordered the Patriarch to wave his white banner at the enemy, and the army of Shang fled.
(From the Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia)
Ching Shih Tzu was an early historian whose date is unknown. His book was lost by the Sui dynasty, and when Liu Chih-chi described it as “a collection of street gossip” he was going by the Han Dynasty History, for this work had not reappeared in the Tang dynasty. Three fragments left deal with ancient ceremony, making it hard to understand why this work was classed as hsiao-shuo.
In ancient times a child's education began before it was born. When the queen was seven months with child, she went to the hall, and the annalist with his pipe would wait on the left of the door, the cook with his ladle on the right, the diviner with his instruments of divination would wait outside the hall, while the other officers waited within the gate, each busy with his different task. In these three months, if she asked for improper music the annalist would decline to play it, if she asked for improper food the cook would decline to prepare it, saying: “We dare not offer this to the crown prince.” When the child was born and cried, the annalist would play his pipe at the befitting pitch, the cook would provide food of the befitting taste, and the diviner would read the stars. Then the ceremony to celebrate the prince's birth was performed.
(From the Records of Rites)
In ancient times, a boy would move to lodgings outside his home at the age of eight to learn the lesser arts and practise the lesser etiquette. When he bound his hair and undertook more advanced studies, he would learn the greater arts and practise the greater etiquette. At home he would study ceremony and literature, abroad his jade pendants would tinkle, and when riding in his carriage he would hear harmonious bells. Thus no improper ideas could enter his heart.... In ancient times carriages were built with round canopies to symbolize heaven, twenty-eight ribs to symbolize the zodiac, a square frame to symbolize the earth, and thirty strips of cloth to symbolize the moon. Thus looking up the driver could see heaven and looking down the earth; in front of him were the harmonious bells, at his side the evolution of the seasons. So education was brought into the carriage.
(From the Records of Rites)
The cock is a creature of the east. When the yearly cycle comes to an end, the new order begins in the east and the myriad things emerge. Thus the cock is used in sacrifice.
(From Ying Shao's Popular Traditions and Customs)
Works of military science and divination listed in the Han Dynasty History include Shih Kuang's work on divination in eight chapters. We know nothing of the contents of his hsiao-shuo, except that the commentator tells us they were based for the most part on the Chou Dynasty Annals. Lost Records of Chou relates that Shih Kuang once judged from the voice of a certain prince that this ruler would not live long, and the prince himself knew that three years later he would appear before the Heavenly Emperor. This certainly reads like fiction.
The only thing we know about Yu Chu, whose name appears in the commentary to the Han Dynasty History, is that he joined with others to lay curses upon the Huns and men of Ferghana: this is mentioned in the section on imperial sacrifices. He wrote nearly a thousand chapters of tales of the Chou dynasty, but all of these are lost. Three quotations from the Records of Chou in Tsin and Tang works are more reminiscent of The Book of Mountains and Seas and The Travels of King Mu than of the Lost Records of Chou, and Chu Yu-tseng thought these might well be from Yu Chu's tales.
Mount Chieh is where the god Ju Shou lives. West of this mountain is the place where the sun sets, and a round aura is there. It is ruled over by the god Ching Kuang.
(From the Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia)
Wherever the Heavenly Hound stops, the earth slopes down. Its light illumines the sky like shooting stars more than a hundred feet long. Its speed is like the wind, its noise like thunder, and its brightness like lightning.
(From the commentary on The Book of Mountains and Seas)
When King Mu went hunting, a black bird like a pigeon flew down to alight on his chariot. When the charioteer killed it with his whip the horses stampeded and could not be controlled. The king stumbled and hurt his left leg.
(From Li Shan's commentary on the Anthology of Literature)
In his preface to the Garden of Anecdotes, Liu Hsiang comments on the Miscellaneous Writings classified as hsiao-shuo: “There are anecdotes of every description.... I cut out those which are redundant, and since the remainder are shallow and lack profundity I put these together as the Miscellaneous Writings.” His Garden of Anecdotes still exists, and all the tales in it concern deeds of ancient men from which morals can be drawn. Judging by his description of the Miscellaneous Writings, the tales in it probably serve no moral purpose.
We know nothing of the other works of fiction mentioned in the Han Dynasty History. It appears from their titles that they were attributed to ancients like Yi Yin, Yu Hsiung, Shih Kuang and the Yellow Emperor and dealt with such topics as the prolongation of life and sacrifice; so probably all but Ching Shih Tzu were writings by alchemists. Wu Cheng Tzu is mentioned in Hsun Tzu, and Shih Tzu notes that he taught his disciples to avoid acting against nature. Sung Tzu's name appears in Chuang Tzu, Works of Mencius and Han Fei Tzu in slightly different forms, and Hsun Tzu quotes him as saying that if a man feels no shame when he is insulted, he will not become aggressive. This smacks of Taoist philosophy, though it is not the sort of thing the alchemists said.
4. Fiction Attributed to Han Dynasty Writers
SOME writings of hsiao-shuo still in existence have been attributed to Han dynasty writers, but none of these are genuine Han dynasty works. From the Tsin to the Sung and Ming dynasties, scholars and alchemists forged “ancient” works. The scholars did this for their own amusement, to show off their talent or to claim that they had acquired some rare manuscript; the alchemists did this to spread superstition, utilizing these “ancient” texts to impress the credulous. After the Tsin dynasty these forgeries were ascribed to Han dynasty authors, just as during the Han dynasty various anecdotes and sayings were ascribed to the Yellow Emperor or Yi Yin. Of these hsiao-shuo alleged to be Han dynasty writings, two were attributed to Tungfang Shuo, two to Pan Ku, one to Kuo Hsien, one to Liu Hsin. Works about distant lands were attributed to Tungfang Shuo or Kuo Hsien, those about local affairs to Liu Hsin or Pan Ku. By and large, all these writings treat of the supernatural.
One work supposedly by Tungfang Shuo is the Book of Deities and Marvels. Written in the style of The Book of Mountains and Seas, this has fewer geographic details and more accounts of wonders, with an occasional jest thrown in. Since The Book of Mountains and Seas was little talked of in the Han dynasty, not becoming widely known until the Tsin, the Book of Deities and Marvels can hardly date from before that time. Certain repetitious passages are no doubt due to the fact that a mutilated text was re-edited and gaps filled in with material from Tang and Sung dynasty books. A commentary attributed to Chang Hua of the Tsin dynasty is also a later fabrication.
In the south are plantations of sugar-cane, which grows to a height of a thousand feet with trunks thirty-eight inches round. This tree has many knots and is full of juice as sweet as honey. This juice, sucked, imparts strength and vigour and helps to check worms. The tapeworms that infest the human body look like earthworms. They aid the digestion but too many are harmful, too few make for indigestion. This sugar-cane, like other canes, can adjust the number of worms in the body.
(“The Southern Wilderness")
The Lying Beast lives in the mountains of the Southwest Wilderness. In appearance like a rabbit with a human face, it can speak like a human being. It often cheats men, saying east when it should be west and bad when it should be good. Its flesh is delicious, but eating it makes a man tell lies. Its other name is Rumour.
(“The Southwestern Wilderness")
On Mount Kunlun there is a bronze pillar as high as the sky, and this is the pillar of heaven. It has a circumference of three thousand li and rises sheer. Underneath is a mansion with an area of a thousand square feet where live fairies who govern the region. Above is the giant bird Hsi-yu. This bird faces south, shields the Lord of the East with its left wing and the Queen Mother of the West with its right. The span of its back between the two wings' is nineteen thousand li. Every year the Queen Mother of the West mounts one wing to meet the Lord of the East.
(“The Central Wilderness")
The Accounts of the Ten Continents, also attributed to Tungfang Shuo, tells of the ten continents, Tsu, Yin, Hsuan, Yen, Chang, Yuan, Liu, Sheng, Feng-ling and Chu-ku. Emperor Wu Ti, having heard about these from the Queen Mother of the West, asked Tungfang Shuo to describe these regions to him. The style is also modelled on The Book of Mountains and Seas.
The continent of Hsuan lies in the North Sea in the land of Hsu-hai. It has an area of 7,200 square li and is 360,000 li from the southern coast. There is a great city governed by saints and fairies, and many hills besides. The Hill of the Winds facing the Northwest Gate of heaven rumbles like thunder. There are many palaces for the angels, each one different. Gold plants and jade herbs abound. It is here that the Three Lords of Heaven descend to rule, hence all is solemnity....
In the third year of the Cheng Ho period (90 B.C.) when Emperor Wu Ti went to Anting, the west Scythians presented four ounces of incense as large as a sparrow's egg and as dark as a mulberry. Because this was unknown in China, the emperor kept it in the outer treasury.... In the first year of the Hou Yuan period (88 B.C.) hundreds fell ill in the city of Changan, and more than half of them died. But when the emperor burned some of this Scythian incense in the capital, all who had not been dead for more than three months came back to life. The fragrance also lingered for more than three months so that the emperor knew that this was a treasure. Yet though the remaining incense was carefully kept, some time later it was lost, and the next year when the emperor lay dying in Wu-tso Palace no Scythian incense was left. Had the envoys received better treatment, at the time of the emperor's death there would have been no lack of this wonderful incense. So it seems he was fated to perish!
Though Tungfang Shuo was noted for his jests, he could not have gone to such fantastic lengths. “The Life of Tung-fang Shuo” in the Han Dynasty History tells us: “He loved a joke or any trick or prank, and his stories were so easy to understand and so popular that even children and cowherds spoke of them. Thus all kinds of strange tales and original sayings were attributed to him.” So even during the Han dynasty tales were attributed to Tungfang Shuo. These two forgeries are listed in the bibliographical section of the Sui Dynasty History, and because the tales in them are rather unusual, writers of the Six Dynasties often referred to them. The Book of Deities and Marvels, though crammed with the fantastic talk of alchemists, is couched in the language of a literary man. The Accounts of the Ten Continents is rather naive, as can be seen from the story of the Scythian incense that restored men to life. In fact, at the beginning of this work we read: “Tungfang Shuo said: 'I am one who is learning to become an immortal, not one who is a sage. In his magnificent and prosperous reign, the government is inviting all famous Confucians and Mohists to take part in the culture of our state and discourage the mysteries of the unworldly Taoists. So I have given up my hermit's life to come to court, setting aside my arts of longevity to wait in the palace.'” Obviously here speaks some alchemist who wanted to make himself known, impress readers and console himself.
One work ascribed to Pan Ku is the Tales of Emperor Wu Ti. Only a single book of this remains, which describes the emperor's birth in Yilan Palace, his death and burial and the reign of Emperor Cheng Ti. Though supernatural episodes are included, the writer does not believe in alchemists and the language is concise and fairly distinguished, showing it was the work of a scholar. According to the bibliographical section of the Sui Dynasty History, the Tales of Emperor Wu Ti consisted of two books, but no writer's name is given. Chao Kung-wu, a bibliographer of the Sung dynasty, was the first to say that it was attributed to Pan Ku. Though he also mentioned that Chang Chien-chih of the Tang dynasty in his postscript to Penetrating the Mysteries ascribed this book to Wang Chien who lived at the end of the fifth century, later critics regarded Pan Ku as the author.
The emperor was born in Yilan Palace on the seventh day of the seventh month in the cyclic year of Yi-yu. At the age of four he was made Prince of Chiaotung. A year or two later the Elder Princess, holding him on her knee, asked: “Do you want a wife?”
The prince intimated that he did.
The princess indicated the ladies-in-waiting who numbered more than a hundred, but the prince shook his head to them all. Finally she pointed to her daughter. “How about Ah-chiao?”
The prince laughed and said: “If I have Ah-chiao as my wife, I'll put her in a chamber of gold.”
The Elder Princess was overjoyed and prevailed on the emperor to marry her daughter to the prince.
* * *
Emperor Wu Ti once went to the guardsmen's office. There he saw a white-bearded and white-haired old man in shabby clothes.
“How long have you served here?” asked the emperor. “How is it you are so old?”
“My name is Yen Ssu,” was the reply. “I am from Chiangtu. I joined the guards in the reign of Emperor Wen Ti.”
“Why have you never been promoted in all these years?”
“Emperor Wen Ti cared more for the arts of peace, while I was trained in those of war. Emperor Ching Ti preferred older men; I was too young for him. Now Your Majesty prefers younger men, and I have become too old. So for three reigns I have never been promoted, but am still an old guardsman in this office.”
The emperor was moved and appointed him tribune of Kuaichi.
* * *
On the seventh day of the seventh month the emperor fasted in Chenghua Palace. At noon a blue bird came flying from the west and the emperor asked Tungfang Shuo what this portended.
Tungfang Shuo said: “The Queen Mother of the West will descend on the sacred image this evening.”
... At night when the clepsydra struck the seventh note, though there was not a single cloud a rumble as of thunder was heard in the distance and a purple mist enveloped the sky. Forthwith the Queen Mother of the West arrived in a purple chariot with serving-maids on both sides. She wore a tiara and above her was a blue aura like a cloud. Two blue birds descended on both sides of the goddess. When she alighted, the emperor welcomed her and bowed. Having invited her to take a seat, he asked her for some recipe that would make him immortal.
The goddess said: ”... Your Majesty is not yet free of worldly passion. You still retain too much lust to be ready for the elixir.”
She took out seven peaches and ate two herself, giving the other five to the emperor. When he kept the stones she asked what he intended to do with them.
He told her: “These peaches are so delicious that I intend to plant them.”
The goddess said with a smile: “This peach tree bears fruit only once in three thousand years, and cannot grow on earth.”
She stayed till the fifth watch at dawn, and they spoke of worldly affairs, for she would not speak of the gods. Then she left suddenly.
Tungfang Shuo had been peeping from Red-bird Gate at the goddess, and she said: “This boy is a mischievous, foolish rascal. That is why he was banished from heaven for a time. But there is no harm in him and he will return to heaven eventually. You must look after him well.”
After the goddess left, the emperor was melancholy for many days.
The other work attributed to Pan Ku is the Private Life of Emperor Wu Ti in one book. This also tells of the birth and death of the emperor, giving fuller details about the visit of the Queen Mother of the West. The language is magniloquent yet superficial, some Buddhist sayings are used, and certain episodes are borrowed from the last work and the Accounts of the Ten Continents; so this was obviously written later. The authorship was unknown in the Sung dynasty, but Ming dynasty critics attributed both works to Pan Ku simply because of his fame as a historian.
After the second watch that night a white vapour ascended suddenly in the southwest and this radiance approached the palace. Soon fluting and drumming could be heard in the clouds, and the clamour of men and horses. In half the time for a meal the goddess arrived. Deities alighted before the palace like a flock of birds, some mounted on dragons and tigers, some on white unicorns or white storks, some in carriages or on winged horses. There were several thousand of these angelic beings, whose splendour shed a radiance on all the court. Then this retinue of angels vanished and the Queen Mother of the West appeared! She had fifty attendants and was riding in a carriage of purple clouds drawn by nine-coloured dragons....
The others remained outside while the goddess entered, supported by two maids. These were girls of sixteen or seventeen, clad in dark silk; they had alluring eyes, exquisite features, and were utterly ravishing. The goddess mounted the steps and sat down facing east. In her golden coat she was splendid yet dignified. At her waist she had a long belt and a sword, on her head a tiara over her knotted hair, and on her feet slippers embroidered with phoenixes. She appeared to be in her thirties, of medium height, and her beauty, divine and magnificent, was peerless. She was a true goddess!
The emperor knelt in thanks.... Lady Shang-yuan bade him be seated.
The Queen Mother rebuked her: “You will frighten the emperor by speaking so sharply, since he still lacks true understanding.”
Lady Shang-yuan replied: “A man who desires to understand the Truth will willingly give his body to a hungry tiger, ignoring personal calamities, braving fire and flood, single-minded and fearless.... I spoke sharply to help him to make up his mind. If you wish to help him, you will give him the recipe for discarding his mortal body.”
The Queen Mother said: “His mind has long been exercised, but for lack of a good master he is beginning to waver in his beliefs and suspect that no immortals exist. I left my celestial palace and came to the dusty world to strengthen his resolution and free him from doubt. Our meeting today is one that will be remembered. As for a recipe for leaving the earth, I do not grudge it him: in three years' time I shall give him one half of it. If I were to give him the whole, he would not stay here. But the Huns are not yet pacified and there are alarms at the frontier: why should he be so impatient to leave his throne and live as a hermit in the woods and hills? All depends upon his faith. If he mends his ways, I shall return.” She patted the emperor on the back. “Follow Lady Shang-yuan's sound advice and you will become an immortal. Take good care!”
The emperor, kneeling, replied: “I shall have it written in gold and wear it on my person.”
Penetrating the Mysteries in four books, ascribed to Kuo Hsien of the Later Han dynasty, consists of sixty anecdotes about fairies, magic and marvels in distant lands. The title is explained as follows in the preface: “Emperor Wu Ti was a perspicacious and remarkable monarch, and Tungfang Shuo in jest gave him good advice, going to the heart of the Truth so that mysteries were made manifest. Now I have assembled tales hitherto unrecorded in history, and produced this work in four books as one form of writing.” So, just as in the other works, these legends were attributed to Tungfang Shuo too. Kuo Hsien or Kuo Tzu-heng was a citizen of Junan who became an imperial academician in the time of Emperor Kuang Wu (A.D. 25-57). Fearless and honest, he was noted for his frankness. The legend of how he extinguished a fire with wine was used by the alchemists, and when Fan Yeh compiled the Later Han Dynasty History he made the mistake of classing him as one of them. Kuo Hsien was first cited as the author of this work in the Tang Dynasty History, but the Sui Dynasty History speaks of the author as Kuo, not Kuo Hsien. During the Six Dynasties when tales of the supernatural were popular, they were often attributed to Kuo Pu of the Tsin dynasty. Thus The Heart of Mysteries and Penetrating the Mysteries were both ascribed to him. The former work is now lost, but judging by fragments which remain it resembled the Book of Deities and Marvels. Penetrating the Mysteries is still complete. Here are two extracts from it:
Huang An was a citizen of the prefecture of Tai, who served as a soldier in that district.... He ate cinnabar till his whole body was red. In winter he wore no furs but invariably sat on a holy tortoise two feet across.
He was asked: “How many years have you sat on this tortoise?”
He answered: “When divine Fu Hsi invented nets and snares and caught this tortoise, he gave it to me, and I have been sitting on it ever since. Its back is flat. This [...]
